Skateboarders want bigger outdoor park
Joel Smith comes off a ramp at the Rotary Skateboard Park in downtown Red Deer. Seasoned skateboarders are lobbying the City of Red Deer for a larger outdoor park in which to do backflips. This week, Smith, 25, and Luke Bradley met with a consultant who is doing a Community Facilities Needs Assessment. Greg Scott, manager of the city Recreation, Parks and Culture Department, said expansion is possible but he’s not sure where a skateboard park will fit on a priority list of recreational facilities.
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Updated: February 29, 2008 7:14 AM
Seasoned skateboarders are lobbying the City of Red Deer for a larger outdoor park in which to do backflips.
On Wednesday, Joel Smith, 25, and friend Luke Bradley met with a consultant who is doing a Community Facilities Needs Assessment.
They are trying to persuade the city that a bigger and better-designed park is needed soon for the ballooning numbers of boarders in Red Deer.
“We want to make sure the city is aware that there is a need for a bigger park in town,” said Smith.
The present park near the Red Deer Arena is about 10 years old and is just too small, Smith said.
On any given Saturday morning during the summer, about 25 to 30 boarders are skating down the ramps.
He found a dozen boarders there recently, despite the park being half-covered in snow.
New parks are designed better so that people aren’t crisscrossing each other’s paths all the time, Smith said.
If the city considers a new park, Smith said he’d prefer the site stay in the downtown core so that it’s easy to get to for youth by bus.
The current park may not be able to expand because there’s an underground water main nearby, Smith said.
Greg Scott, manager of the city Recreation, Parks and Culture Department, said there may be some possibility to expand the existing park, depending on whether engineering changes can be done.
Scott said he’s not sure at this point where a skateboard park will fit on a priority list of recreational facilities.
Consultants CDC/Converge Group are researching to find out what kind of recreational uses are in demand for a growing city, he said.
They are talking with stakeholder groups and are doing a random telephone survey.
“They are then asked to compile a plan that would put us into the next 20 years,” Scott said.
The draft plan will be presented to the public, with a final report expected to go before city council this summer.
Contact Laura Tester at ltester@reddeeradvocate.com
